Adagio Dance by Claire Millman Mahl

Adagio Dance by Claire Millman Mahl

Adagio Dance

Claire Millman Mahl

Please call us at 707-546-7352 or email artannex@aol.com to purchase this item.
Title

Adagio Dance

 
Artist
Year
c. 1938  
Technique
4-color lithograph 
Image Size
17 x 10 1/2" image 
Signature
unsigned; "MAHL" written in unidentified hand along lower right sheet edge 
Edition Size
proof - rare 
Annotations
titled along lower center sheet edge in unidentified hand; stamped "New York City WPA Art Project" in lower left 
Reference
GSA FA1876, listed on page 279; NYPL clr lithos 26 
Paper
cream wove Rives 
State
published 
Publisher
WPA 
Inventory ID
11570 
Price
$600.00 
Description

Claire Mahl was involved in the New York WPA-FAP printmaking project, creating over 20 separate images, all in editions of under 25. There were not a lot of color lithographs done through the WPA-FAP, which existed between 1935 and 1939. The New York Graphic Arts Division began in 1936 and functioned for around 2 years, producing some 3,000 original prints. Fine Art appraiser C. van Northrup catalogued only 134 separate color lithograph images by 44 printmakers done in the New York project. Mahl did at least two, "Adagio Dance" and "Dancer Resting", which were not catalogued. Most of the color lithography was supervised by WPA printmaker Russell Limbach. Because of the new demand for color images and the difficulty of producing color lithographs the WPA printmakers developed the less complicated commercial process of silkscreening (serigraphy) to become a Fine Print medium.

By the late 1930s Claire Mahl (later Claire Mahl Moore) had established herself as a Modernist printmaker in the New York art scene, having studied at the Art Students League and worked as a printmaker for the Federal Art Project. Additionally, at the urging of fellow artist Jackson Pollock, in 1936 she became part of the new printmaking group at the David Alfaro Siqueiros 'Experimental Workshop' - a brief-lived venture as Siqueiros enlisted in the Spanish Civil War in 1937. This proved to be an important chapter in the evolution of Mahl's work from straight-forward representation to a more expressive style.

By the time she created "Adagio Dance" the Great Depression had been in full swing for nearly a decade. Though she often addressed the socioeconomic struggles of the time through her work, she would occasionally meditate on those things which brought hope to the masses - dancers, musicians, and everyday human connection. In the late 1930s Mahl had become comfortable with the lithographic process and her lines had loosened and were more expressive, and she began introducing more color into her prints. Here, she captures two dancers mid-performance, using rose, mustard, and cerulean to add just enough flair to the scene without overdoing it, keeping the composition clean yet full of movement.

 

Please call us at 707-546-7352 or email artannex@aol.com to purchase this item.